Man plans epic ‘Law & Order: SVU’-themed proposal with the help of Ice-T

Maddie Anderson became a detective in her own right during an hours-long scavenger hunt planned by her partner.

By Sophie Caldwell

A “Law and Order: SVU” superfan got the surprise of a lifetime when her fiancé planned an elaborate“”SVU”-themed proposal featuring one of the show’s iconic detectives.

Maddie Anderson, 32, was getting ready to go on a shopping trip with a friend when her neighbor surprised her at her door.

The neighbor handed Anderson a dog bandana that read “Operation Find Ty” and a letter explaining Maddie’s mission for the day: Find her boyfriend, Tyler Dycus, before sunset by solving a series of clues.

Anderson has always enjoyed a good mystery, she tells TODAY.com.

That’s why the procedural drama “Law and Order: SVU” has been her favorite show since high school.

“I have always been really obsessed with mysteries and puzzles and games,” she says. “I think that’s why I’m drawn to shows like that, because I’m the one who’s already guessing the person who did it.”

Despite her fandom, she couldn’t have predicted that Ice-T, who stars as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on “SVU,” would play a major role in her own mystery.

Unbeknownst to her, Dycus had purchased a video appearance from Ice-T to participate in the scavenger hunt.

“Hey what’s up Maddie, it’s Ice-T, a.k.a. Fin from ‘SVU’,” the rapper and actor said in the custom video. “I’m here to send you on an extreme scavenger hunt. It’s called ‘Operation Find Ty.’ Your job is to find Ty before sunset.”

“I know you can do this, I know you have the detective skills,” Ice-T continued. “I expect nothing but excellence from you.”

The video concluded with the iconic “dun dun” sound effect from the “SVU” opening credits.

Anderson says that she “couldn’t even speak” when she saw Ice-T appear on her screen.

“I was so confused because when he first came on the screen, my brain was just trying to process it. And then he said my name, and I’m like, how does he know my name?” she recalls.

A friend filmed Anderson’s shocked reaction to the video.

“I just thought, if this is how the day is starting, I can’t even imagine what’s about to happen,” Anderson says.

From the beginning, she had an inkling that the scavenger hunt might end with a proposal.

“Maybe I didn’t know 100 percent, but I think at that point I had a pretty good idea,” she says.

The next stop on her scavenger hunt was a local park, where her sister-in-law and nephew were waiting with several games and puzzles.

Friends and family joined her at other stops along the way, including the San Diego Zoo and the Japanese Friendship Garden.

However, the biggest surprise of the day was yet to come.

Anderson’s mother met her at Nordstrom with her favorite dress, shoes, and makeup before Anderson was blindfolded and driven to her final scavenger hunt destination.

When she arrived and removed the blindfold, Anderson found herself at the exact place where her late father had proposed to her mother in 1986.

“My mom and I looked at each other, and I had this like epiphany of where I was, and then it just sunk in,” Anderson says.

Dycus then popped the question on the exact spot where her parents had stood nearly 40 years before.

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“I was completely shocked. I was so touched. My dad passed away in 2013, so it was just so incredible how thoughtful that was,” Anderson says.

Her engagement ring, which Dycus designed, contains a diamond from Anderson’s mother’s engagement ring.

Dycus had one more surprise up his sleeve: a post-proposal celebration with their loved ones.

“It meant so much,” Anderson says. “The most important thing to me is my family and friends. It was so special. There was so much love in one place.”

Anderson shared the details of her 12-hour scavenger hunt proposal in a seven-part video series on TikTok.

“It’s just so special that he took so much time to put together this whole day that was really curated to me and what I’m interested in. I hope everyone has their own version of that,” she says.

Anderson and Dycus’ wedding is scheduled for May 2025, and they plan to include a shoutout to “SVU” in honor of their proposal.

“I think we definitely need to incorporate something from ‘SVU’ considering it was such a theme for us,” she says. “Maybe we need to get Ice-T to do a little welcome video.”